Trenton, NJ – Today, a bipartisan group of 234 mayors joined Governor Christie’s call for the legislature to end its delays and pass real sick and vacation pay reform to save taxpayer dollars and deliver critical budget relief to municipalities. Eleven mayors joined the Governor at a press conference in Teaneck, including Bergen County Executive Kathe Donovan and Teaneck Mayor Mohammed Hameeduddin, to demand action on critical, common sense reforms that will provide significant taxpayer savings and give mayors the tools they need to manage their budgets and hold down property taxes for New Jersey families.

Today, liabilities facing taxpayers across the state for unused sick and vacation day benefits total more than $825 million. In Teaneck, taxpayers have nearly $4.4 million in total sick and vacation liabilities owed to public workers today. For Bergen County as a whole, municipal liabilities total nearly $91.8 million.

“After having specific bills to act on for nearly 19 months, it is past time for the legislature to stand up and give mayors the tools they are asking for to provide savings to taxpayers, including a complete end to the inexplicable practice of paying scarce taxpayer dollars for unused sick days,” said Governor Christie. “Like the other tool kit bills, real sick and vacation benefit reform is a common sense reform that has bipartisan support of mayors, local elected officials and lawmakers from communities all across our state – urban and suburban, shore and inland, Democrat and Republican. There is no excuse for the legislature’s continued failure to deliver savings to our cities and property taxpayers.”

Mayors understand that the inaction of the legislature has a real, meaningful impact on the major cost drivers in their budgets and how effectively they can control property taxes under the 2 percent property tax cap. Without reform, sick and vacation benefit liabilities will continue to accrue at the expense of property taxpayers all across the state, including those taxpayers already facing some of the highest accrued liabilities today:

Estimated Total Accumulated Sick and Vacation Time Owed to Public Workers

New Brunswick: $14.5 million in accumulated payouts $1,330 per taxpayer
Jersey City: $74 million $1,174 per taxpayer
Hackensack: $18.9 million $1,030 per taxpayer
Newark: $46.1 million $770 per taxpayer
Atlantic City: $34.6 million $426 per taxpayer
Camden: $23.2 million $770 per taxpayer
Elizabeth: $18.3 million $691 per taxpayer
Edison: $14.6 million $352 per taxpayer
Union City: $14.6 million $493 per taxpayer

Mayors from every New Jersey county are standing up to demand action in this legislative session on these reforms to comprehensively address the property tax crisis and provide local government savings.

234 mayors from every corner of the state and across political parties have joined Governor Christie’s call for the legislature to pass real sick and vacation pay reform, real civil service reform, and to finish the tool kit.